Bill Text: NY A09345 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Exempts the Varna Volunteer Fire Company, Inc., within the town of Dryden, Tompkins county from the forty-five percent limit on non-resident members.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-09-27 - signed chap.354 [A09345 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A09345-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9345 IN ASSEMBLY March 6, 2024 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. KELLES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments AN ACT to amend the not-for-profit corporation law, in relation to exempting the Varna Volunteer Fire Company, Inc., from the forty-five percent limit on non-resident members The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph 3 of paragraph (c) of section 1402 of the 2 not-for-profit corporation law, as separately amended by chapters 383, 3 424, 431 and 463 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows: 4 (3) In towns outside of villages and fire districts, the consent of a 5 majority of the members of the town board to the formation of a fire 6 corporation shall constitute an appointment of the persons named in the 7 certificate of incorporation as town firefighters. Thereafter, other 8 eligible persons may be elected as members pursuant to the by-laws of 9 the fire corporation, but the election of a member must be approved by 10 the town board of each town which consented to the formation of the fire 11 corporation. Such a person shall be a resident of the territory speci- 12 fied in the certificate of incorporation or of territory outside such 13 boundaries which is afforded fire protection by the fire corporation 14 pursuant to a contract for fire protection under which a cash consider- 15 ation is received by the corporation or for which negotiations for 16 renewal of such a contract are pending. The membership of any volunteer 17 member shall terminate when he or she ceases to be a resident of such 18 inside or outside territory, except that the corporation may authorize 19 his or her continued membership where he or she notifies the secretary 20 of the fire corporation (a) that he or she plans to change his or her 21 residence to a territory which is not in such inside or outside territo- 22 ry, and (b) that by reason of his or her residence in the vicinity or 23 his or her usual occupation he or she will be available to render active 24 service as a volunteer firefighter in either such inside or such outside 25 territory. Voting for such authorization shall be pursuant to the 26 by-laws. Such authorization shall not become effective unless approved 27 by resolution of the town board of each town which consented to the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14654-01-4A. 9345 2 1 formation of the corporation. Any membership so continued shall termi- 2 nate when the member can no longer meet the requirements of this subpar- 3 agraph. A person who cannot meet the residence requirements of this 4 subparagraph may be elected to membership as a volunteer member if by 5 reason of his or her residence in the vicinity or his or her usual occu- 6 pation he or she will be available to render active service as a volun- 7 teer firefighter in such inside or outside territory. Voting for such 8 election shall be pursuant to the by-laws. Such election shall not 9 become effective unless approved by resolution of the town board of each 10 town which consented to the formation of the corporation. Such member- 11 ship shall terminate when the member can no longer meet the requirements 12 of this subparagraph. The election or continuance of any person as a 13 member shall be deemed to have been approved by the town board pursuant 14 to this subparagraph in the event that no action is taken by the town 15 board, either approving or disapproving, within forty days in the case 16 of residents of the territory specified in the certificate of incorpo- 17 ration or of outside contract territory, and within seventy days in the 18 case of all others, after service of written notice of such election or 19 continuance of membership shall have been made by the secretary of the 20 corporation upon the town clerk, either personally or by mail. The 21 membership of any volunteer firefighter shall not be continued pursuant 22 to this subparagraph, and persons who do not reside in the territory 23 specified in the certificate of incorporation or in territory protected 24 pursuant to a contract for fire protection shall not be elected to 25 membership, if, by so doing, the percentage of such nonresident members 26 in the fire corporation would exceed forty-five per centum of the actual 27 membership thereof, provided, however, that the forty-five percent limit 28 on non-resident members shall not apply to the membership of the Huguen- 29 ot Fire Company, Inc., within the town of Deerpark, Orange county, to 30 the membership of the Prospect Terrace Fire Company, Inc., within the 31 town of Dickinson, Broome county, to membership of the Hopewell Volun- 32 teer Fire Department, Inc., to membership of the Wales Center Volunteer 33 Fire Company, Inc., within the town of Wales, Erie county, to the 34 membership of the Nedrow Fire Department, within the town of Onondaga, 35 Onondaga county, to the membership of the Howlett Hill Fire Department, 36 within the town of Onondaga, Onondaga county, to the membership of the 37 Southwood Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., within the town of Onondaga, 38 Onondaga county, to the membership of the East Syracuse Fire Department, 39 within the town of Dewitt, Onondaga county, to the membership of the 40 Camillus Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., within the town of Camillus, 41 Onondaga county, to the membership of the Pleasant Square Fire Company, 42 Inc. within the town of Johnstown, Fulton county, to the membership of 43 the East Amherst Fire Department, Inc., within the town of Amherst, Erie 44 county, to the membership of the Crittenden Volunteer Fire Department, 45 Inc., within the town of Alden, Erie county, to membership of the fire 46 departments within the town of Fleming, Cayuga county, to membership of 47 the Bushnell's Basin Fire Department, in the town of Perinton, Monroe 48 county, to the membership of the East Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Company, 49 Inc. within the town of Dunkirk, Chautauqua county, to the membership 50 of the Varna Volunteer Fire Company, Inc., within the town of Dryden, 51 Tompkins county, to the membership of the Leeds Hose Company No. 1, Inc. 52 within the town of Catskill, Greene county or to membership of the Sali- 53 na Consolidated Fire District #2, in the town of Salina, Onondaga coun- 54 ty. Nonresidents of the territory specified in the certificate of incor- 55 poration whose volunteer membership has been authorized or continued 56 pursuant to this subparagraph may be elected or appointed to any officeA. 9345 3 1 in the fire corporation and shall have all the powers, duties, immuni- 2 ties, and privileges of resident volunteer members except a non-resident 3 of this state whose membership has been continued pursuant to this 4 subparagraph, or who was elected to membership pursuant to this subpara- 5 graph, shall not be considered to be performing any firefighting duty, 6 or to be engaged in any firefighting activity, as a member of the fire 7 company while he or she is outside of this state unless and until he or 8 she has first reported to the officer or firefighter in command of his 9 or her fire department, or any company, squad or other unit thereof, 10 engaged or to be engaged in rendering service outside this state, or has 11 received orders or authorization from an officer of the fire department 12 or fire company to participate in or attend authorized activities 13 outside of this state in the same manner as resident members of the fire 14 company. A person shall not be eligible to volunteer membership in any 15 other fire corporation or fire company at one time. The provisions of 16 this subparagraph shall not be deemed to authorize the election or the 17 continuance of any person as a member of the corporation if such 18 election or continuance of membership shall be contrary to the by-laws, 19 rules or regulations of the fire corporation. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
